Beasley Allen has joined Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, L.P., a major opioid manufacturer. The suit was filed on behalf of the State of Alabama. The complaint claims that the way Purdue marketed its opioids helped create the opioid epidemic. The filing also calls that epidemic a public health and safety crisis in Alabama.
The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division, under case number 2:18-CV-00089. The state argues that Purdue violated the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act. As a result, it is seeking both monetary damages and injunctive relief. So far, these are only allegations made in the complaint.
Rhon E. Jones, who heads the firm’s Toxic Torts Section, is serving as a Deputy Attorney General in the case. Jones also said that Purdue has been misrepresenting the risks of these highly addictive painkillers.
Other Beasley Allen lawyers on the team include Jere Beasley, William R. Sutton and J. Ryan Kral. They are working with Joshua P. Hayes, also a Deputy Attorney General, and Robert F. Prince of the Tuscaloosa firm Prince, Glover & Hayes. The state hired the outside firms on a contingency basis, though lawyers from the Attorney General’s Office supervise their work. Corey L. Maze is listed as Special Deputy Attorney General, while Winfield J. Sinclair and Michael G. Dean appear as Assistant Attorneys General.
The complaint names several Purdue products. They include OxyContin, MS Contin, Dilaudid and Dilaudid HP, Butrans, Hysingla ER and Targiniq ER, as well as generic opioids. According to the filing, OxyContin alone holds roughly 30 percent of the painkiller market. Purdue’s drugs also make up most of the extended-release market for chronic pain not related to cancer.
The state wants to recover a wide range of economic losses. These include the cost of medical and therapeutic care for opioid addiction. Counseling, rehabilitation and care for infants born with opioid-related conditions are on the list too. The list also covers spending on public safety and law enforcement. It even includes care for children whose parents have been disabled or incapacitated by opioids.
